Toronto rockers Metric emphasize guitars on the band’s latest album, a collection of 12 new songs packed with massive riffs, driving rhythm and raw/ smooth vocals that have become their instantly identifiable signature sound. Produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Metric’s seventh LP addresses a climate of cultural and political anxiety while refusing to give despair the upper hand. In many ways, it’s the most Metric album the band has ever made as Emily Haines, Jimmy Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott-Key rediscover their shared love of music and how good they are at making it together. “This felt like the culmination of a lifetime spent playing together and trusting each other and going for it,” Shaw says.